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PITTSBURGH (May 12, 2006)—BodyMedia, Inc., a leading developer and provider of continuous body monitoring systems for clinical and consumer healthcare markets, announced today its reception of another major patent on the current and next generations of its wearable body monitoring platform. The United States Patent No. 7,020,508 was issued on March 28, 2006 and covers fundamental elements of enabling medical-grade wearable body monitoring for free-living consumer and clinical applications.
Entitled Apparatus for Detecting Human Physiological and Contextual Information, the broad patent contains over 220 claims covering numerous embodiments of intelligent wearable monitoring related apparatuses. These include proprietary sensors, ergonomic wearability and body attachment features for greater comfort, placement flexibility, and sensing quality. It also includes "Smart Patches", body monitoring devices that attach to the body via an adhesive, and garments containing monitoring devices. Methods for data processing and providing physiological or lifestyle feedback from the sensed parameters to individuals and their caregivers through a wide variety of mechanisms are also covered under the new patent including electrochemical displays, web applications, and other devices such as intelligent weight scales or cell phones.
"This is a significant patent for anyone practicing in the wearable body monitoring space. It contains important new claims that support BodyMedia's strategies in clinical and consumer body monitoring. The inventions covered in this patent provide users with the ability to continuously monitor their bodies and obtain actionable feedback that can help them or others assess and ultimately improve their state of health," said John Monocello, BodyMedia's Director of Intellectual Property. "In addition to the number and breadth of claims that have been awarded, the patent contains a rich technical disclosure typical of other BodyMedia patent applications. BodyMedia will continue to mine this disclosure for other patentable subject matter that we anticipate will further broaden the currently issued claim set."
BodyMedia remains dedicated to developing and exploiting its intellectual property portfolio to the benefit of both the company and select partners. "BodyMedia's issued patent portfolio is extending well beyond the bounds of its specific products and commercialization plans," said Astro Teller, CEO of BodyMedia. "As that happens, our attention is turning to the best ways to organize and foster growth in the fast-growing wearable body monitoring industry through the use of our intellectual property rights."
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